The last few days I have been trying to post because I actually finished a knitting project and I think it is my favorite yet. Last week during our 110 degree heat wave I pulled the yarn through the last stitch of Shedir. I have eyeballed this cap for
years, since the pattern came out on Knitty. I have always wanted to try it but felt slightly intimidated by the whole pretty but twisted stitch appearance. Well, let me tell you, it is the most satisfying little cable project ever. So simple to follow once a repeat is done, so quick, so pretty. I am planning on a family of Shedir caps for Tim, Mason and Owen so as we have warm heads when the 'cooling' comes to our little area of Southern California.
This weekend we made a quick trip up to Mt Baldy behind our house, first time up there with the boys, first time up there in years actually. Odd, we live by mountains but prefer to drive 5 hours to Shaver Lake to vacation. The Sierras do hands down beat out the San Gabriel foothills, but it is good to remind ourselves that we can get to some fresher air by driving 30 minutes up. Mt Baldy actually has a really intense peak height of 10000 or so. Dry as a bone this time of year, but with our cooler weather and new backpacks for the boys, we thought it would be a good trip. It really was. The boys did well in the backpacks, we realized just how out of shape we are, and true to form, Owie fell asleep in the pack. That baby boy can sleep anywhere. Our hike was
short and sweet, we spent most of it on the access road up to the trail, but we did it. It is nice to see that little parts of our former lives can be visited, though in modified forms. And for younger babies, the Beans really do quite well with all of our shlepping them around. I hope our stamina and theirs will increase at about the same pace. We have tentative plans to try a January Sierra trip and I would love to snowshoe with them in the packs, especially because it means we could get them little snowsuit outfits.
It is hard to believe we are entertaining thoughts of winter's approach. The evenings here are cooler, comfortable, almost chilly for us. I smell autumn, usually my favorite time of the year. I love the change of season but cannot help but think how different this one will be. Halloween with two little ones to dress as we please. Christmas coming with the return of my long traveling brother and his fiance (they left in June for a world tour and are due back in December). I know this time is fleet and I have to gather these memories as the boys grow. At an almost alarming rate. They seem huge to me, like different babies. And I love it so.
Things here just keep coming in waves, the changes with the babies continue to both excite and exhaust me. Sleep was an elusive thing for me for a time, I had a bout of insomnia (oh, god, I shudder to even think on it) and have tried to control this with yoga and meditation. It is amazing how quickly your system forgets you ever once slept through a night. I have adjusted as best as one can, but, man, having two babies is tough. I think I will stop this line of writing, I get a little tired just thinking on it. So, little question for other Mama readers....what do you do with your four/five month old babies for entertainment time? We have the Gymini and foam pad, captain chairs and an increasing pile of toys. Just curious....having two to keep happy sometimes seems impossible and I would love any suggestions.
And in the same line as my last post "to Mamas" I would like to shout out to this blogging Daddy of twins. I have been reading him for a month or so and I love the way he writes about his beautiful toddler twins. I love hearing the male side of parenting and the obvious love he has for his family and his role as Daddy. Matthew, you make me anticipate with eager heart our future with our boys. Thanks for sharing so much of your life with your readers.
And that is all for now. I do have a small sweater project on the needles but it is barely off the ground. I used a tubular cast on to start it off and it is such a beautiful edge....find a great tutorial here. And congrats to her too, she is waiting on her first bean. I'm out.
Owie's Eyelashes captured
10 comments:
Oh, Ames. They are so beautiful.
As you know, I have twins too, although they're two years now. The last year, I am confident I have had a much more easy life than my one-kid-only friends, because at one year they start playing with each other, and that means you'll be able to do other things. I've been knitting quite a lot while watching them play next to me. So your present situation won't last forever!
Meanwhile, get yourself a baby carrier. I'm talking some sort of mei tai (my favorite!) or a nice woven wrap. Carrying one of the lovely ones on your back makes it a lot more easy to help the other one. It will save your back on those days when there seems to be nothing but complaining..
finding activities is really hard, i must admit. i want to keep her happy and stimulated but she has such a short attention span! and my little one gets so excited by all the little things. it's such a strange combination of emotions. almost schizophrenic. anyway, yeah, i try to do the gymini in the morning, tummy time and whoozit between naps. try to go out in the stroller everyday despite the weather. she loves her bouncy chair so sometimes i bring the chair to different areas of the apartment. the bathroom is really fascinating for some reason. hhmmm, some days run by and i have no idea what i did! :)
They are getting SO big! It's hard remembering what I did to entertain Robby when he was that little, he did love these black and white Wee Gallery flash cards, I would hold them up and talk about the animal and what kind of noises they make, etc.. When Robby was little, he would listen while I read to him, but now he just tries to eat the book. And the captain chair I had for Robby had a mobile thingy that I would jangle for him to look at, he never really plays by himself super well, but does great when I 'm there "facilitating" :P You are doing a great job, O and M are obviously thriving!
Have you tried an exersaucer?? Mj loved this thing and it was really fun to watch her learn each toy.
wow! Shedir is beautiful, and so are your growing boys! It's so much fun to see them growing up post by post.
I'd love to know which backpacks you bought and any recommendations. I want to get out and about again camping next year and those will be essential. Just don't know where to start!
It's funny trying to remember back for ideas about how we stayed entertained. Only 4 months ago but it already seems a lifetime. I think that's about the age that our boys really got into the play mat, reaching up and grabbing hold of things. One really loved his bouncy chair. I'd hold up toys to them and try and engage them each day. They LOOOOVED the Tiny Love Mobile over the crib. It was a handy-me-down from another twin mom and became my favorite thing ever because it would entertain them for about 20 minutes at a time so that I could do stuff, like take a shower!
*blushing*
Thank you for the kind words!
We had an exersaucer that our twins really loved. We also had the gym thing which they loved too.
They also loved crazy parents blowing raspberries and singing silly songs but you might have that one down already.
I just love your posts, they are so thoughtful and detailed - always a great read.
Aren't baby backpacks wonderful! They give you a great sense of freedom - I think snowshoeing would definitely be possible. And that cable knit cap -amazingly beautiful.
I remember having the same thoughts about entertaining Thomas at 5 months, there seemed to be only so many things he liked to do, and we'd just keep rotating between them. One thing that was very successful was the jolly jumper - a harness hung from a spring that he could bounce in - he loved it. Mobile type toys hung on elastic (eg from hooks on the ceiling) are great too.
I can't believe how big the beans are!!! My little girl loved her exersaucer and the gymini and lots of silly songs... She loved (still loves) when I held her and we danced together- this would be harder with two but it also counts as exercise for you! Gotta love multi-tasking. And the Shedir is lovely...
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